Dale Vanderholm, 86

Dale Henry Vanderholm, 86, of Castle Rock, Colo., passed away on Saturday, July 25, 2026, surrounded by his loving family. Born March 28, 1940, he was raised on a large farm near Villisca in Southwest Iowa.
Dale graduated from Iowa State University with a BS in Agricultural Engineering in 1962 and an MS in Water Resources in 1969. While at Iowa State, he was a member of Acacia Fraternity and sang with the Iowa State Singers. In 1963, he served as a Naval lieutenant aboard the USS Herbert J. Thomas (DD-833), later serving as the ship’s Anti-Submarine Warfare nuclear missiles officer.
Dale joined the Iowa State faculty in 1967. That same year, he married Margaret Jean Trimmer of San Diego. He earned his PhD from Colorado State University in 1972, with research focused on water quality and pollution. In 1973, Dale and Margaret moved to Illinois, where he taught and conducted research at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and served as a Visiting Research Fellow in New Zealand from 1979–80.
In 1983, the family moved to Nebraska, where Dale became Professor, Associate Dean, and Director of the Department of Agriculture at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. His research on agricultural water pollution and groundwater remains an important part of the field. He retired in 2006 as Emeritus Associate Dean of Agriculture Research. Dale and Margaret later moved to Castle Rock to be closer to their growing family.
Dale loved to laugh, travel, sing, and enjoy life. He especially enjoyed singing baritone with the Men’s Glee Club at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church. Dale is survived by his wife, Margaret; daughters, Dr. Kim Vanderholm (Chris Burchard) and Stephanie Vanderholm Emko (Drake); and granddaughters, Logan, Ashton, and Alexis. A memorial service will be held Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. at Fort Logan National Cemetery.